SBCBM and ASMBS discuss new pathways and future partnerships

On the first day of the XIX Brazilian Congress of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, held this Wednesday, June 6th, in Fortaleza, members of the Brazilian Society of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery (SBCBM) and of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) discussed new pathways for bariatric/metabolic surgery and future partnerships in projects of common interest, during an integrative symposium.

This article was authored by Melina Menezes, journalist for the Brazilian Society of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery

"Our Society also faces the same challenges as the SBCBM. We seek a better relationship with all associated medical specialties, such as cardiology and endocrinology. And we have been making progress. We've tried to encourage specialists to send us their patients sooner by convincing them that the surgery is effective. We'd also like emphasize the importance of counting on these professionals' support both in the surgical process and in the follow-up", says the president of ASMBS, Samer Mattar.

The opening of the symposium was led by the president of SBCBM, Caetano Marchesini, who highlighted the current context of the Brazilian Society, its goals related the medical community, its strategies to connect the interests of its members, as well as the methods used to provide a better communication between doctors and their patients. "It's important for us that all bariatric surgeons feel supported and represented by SBCBM. On average, 50% of patients give up the bariatric surgery due to the fear or lack of information on the procedures. In this context, we spare no effort to make the information on the surgery clearer to the patient, in order to reduce this percentage", he explains.

The first module of the symposium, "Bariatric/Metabolic Surgery Standards", was hosted by the physicians Almino Ramos (BR) and Natan Zundel (USA), who highlighted, among other factors, the importance of establishing a greater relationship with all societies in the world, especially with those who treat obesity and its associated diseases.

"I would say that the surgery is just one component of the whole process of losing weight and of controlling all the diseases that obesity entails. If the patient is not prepared before the surgery and if he does not have the necessary follow-up after the procedure, the final result will definitely be compromised," said Natan Zundel. "The surgical process accounts for only 20% to 30% of the entire weight loss process. In order to obtain the expected result, a multidisciplinary team composed of trained professionals is required to monitor these patients throughout their lives. What we do is good, it helps a lot of people, but patients need to understand that their lives will change. If the patient thinks it's a temporary change of behavior, the surgery will never work."

The president of ASMBS, Samer Mattar, was emphatic in pointing out that one of the major goals of the American Society is to convince patients who need bariatric surgery to seek medical help, avoiding greater health issues in the long term. "As Caetano Marchesini said, we have to think big, in order to accomplish our goals. We want to work more and more with doctors who are not bariatric, so they can offer a better support to patients, improving the results of the proceedure, such as the mortality rate, which is already very low", Mattar (USA) points out.